10/26/2026 3:21:00 PM | Men's Gymnastics
» Fred Richard took floor exercise gold at the World Championships.
» With the gold medal, he is the first American man to win the title since 2003.
» Three other current and former Wolverines represented three different countries at the event.
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands – Former University of Michigan men's gymnast Fred Richard captured gold on the floor exercise with Team USA to close out the 2026 Artistic World Championships in the Netherlands on Sunday (Oct. 24).
Richard, who graduated in 2026 after leading Michigan to an NCAA championship in 2025 and winning five individual NCAA titles, started with the highest execution score of the day (8.833) and earned a stick bonus for an additional one-tenth of a point to edge the 2025 world champion Jake Jarman of Great Britain, 14.633-14.600.
The 2026 Nissen-Emery Award winner is the first American man to win World Championships gold on floor since Paul Hamm in 2003 and the first medalist on the apparatus since Yul Moldauer in 2017. With a women's gold from Claire Pease, Team USA swept the floor titles for the first time at a World Championships.
The Stoughton, Mass., native also advanced to the all-around finals after placing 11th in the qualifying round (82.098), finishing ninth with a score of 82.165. Richard tied for eighth with Oka Shinnosuke of Japan, but the tie was broken by the highest individual event score.
Team USA placed fifth in the qualifying round with a score of 245.961 to advance to the finals, where it finished sixth overall (245.161). Japan (251.928), Russia (250.329) and China (249.193) rounded out the team medalists.
Adam Lakomy, representing Czechia as an individual, finished 62nd (74.765) in the all-around qualifying round, while Alex Istock represented New Zealand as an individual and finished 97th (68.431). Former Wolverine Kevin Penev represented Bulgaria as an individual but withdrew before finishing.
